Temple rolls



United States Patent [72] Inventors Owen E. l-lux Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina;

Floyd A. Stokes, Sr., Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina [21] Appl. No. 706,244 [22] Filed Feb. 19, 1968 [45] Patented Aug. 25, 1970 [73] Assignee J. P. Stevens & Co., Inc.

New York, New York a corporation of Delaware [54] TEMPLE ROLLS 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 139/296 [51] Int. Cl D031 1/22 1501 Field of Search 139/292-298 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 889,208 6/1908 Cunniff et a1. 139/294 1,325,404 12/1919 Jackson 139/296 2,297,128 9/1942 Benson 139/296 2,815,045 12/1957 Splawn 139/296 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,013,294 4/1952 France 139/296 824,629 12/1951 Germany 139/294 499 /l 884 Great Britain 139/295 141,625 4/1920 Great Britain 139/296 Primary Examiner-- James Kee Chi Attorneys-.1. Bradley Cohn and Bernard Marlowe ABSTRACT: A loom temple assembly for gripping the selvage edges of a fabric as it is being drawn from the fell line of a loom comprising at least two rotatable temple rolls, at least one of which comprises a solid, resilient, unburred member having helical grooving over its entire surface, said unburred member being positioned adjacent to at least one other composite temple roll, said composite roll being a rigid member spirally burred from one end for a substantial portion of its length, the remainder of the roll's length extending to the other end being a helically grooved, resilient member.

Patented Aug. 25, 1970 Sheet 1 of 2 PIP/OI? A R7 INVENTORS GWEN E. H UX FLovo A. STOKES, 5R. flmzr/fip w ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 25, 1970 INVENTORS OWEN s. HUX I FLOYD A. STOKES, 5R. BY 4 'p14Mm% ATTORNEY TEMPLE ROLLS This invention relates to an improved combination of temple rolls employed in textile weaving looms.

More particularly this invention concerns a unique combination of friction type and burred type of temple rolls which minimize damage to the cloth being woven and have an exceptionally long operational life.

Temple rolls are devices employed in looms to help maintain fixed dimensions in width of the cloth being woven. The rolls are positioned at the edges of the newly woven material so that the warp and filling in the weaving will properly interlace.

Temple rolls are of two general types, those comprising a core studded or burred with metal spikes and those which employ a core covered with a grooved rubber, natural or synthetic, which employ friction to operate. While the studded types are initially sturdy they suffer from two major defects, a comparatively short operational life and the tendency to cause damage. Both problems arise because of the high strain placed on the spikes which is transmitted to the fabrics. This strain causes a problem in all but the heaviest cloths. The frictional type are much less likely to mark finer cloths initially, but in a relatively short time become worn and lose their efficiency.

Recently the applicant combined the two types of rolls in one assembly of three temple rolls. All three of the rolls were compositerolls which combined both burred and unburred friction type surfaces on one common core. These composite rolls are spirally burred for a substantial portion of their length to /1 or higher) the remaining portion including one tip being fabricated of helical grooved natural rubber. Initially, performance was satisfactory, but after approximately two weeks the rubber tips became worn and the cloth became damaged due to slippage through the burrs. For this reason the useful life of the assembly comprising rubber tipped-burred (composite type) rollers was not substantially improved over that obtained using only the wholly bur'red rolls of the prior art. In order to reduce strain on the burrs and fabric, one of the composite rolls was replaced with a friction roll completely unburred and fabricated of natural rubber, helically grooved throughout its length. Again, initial performance was good, but the rubber roller wore badly within three weeks. The substitution of a polyurethane roller for the natural rubber roller produced substantially the same results and period of usefulness. Similarly, employing an identically grooved, synthetic rubber or polyester roller does not substantially enhance the life or performance of the rolls.

However, when the applicant employed an identically grooved solid nylon. [The term nylon as used herein is synonymous with nylon plastics and is identical to the definition in the Plastics Nomenclature (0883) set forth on page 378 of ASTM Standards Part, June 27, 1967, under Nylon PlasticsPlastics based on resins composed primarily of a long chain synthetic polymeric amide which has recurring amide groups as an integral part of the main polymer chain.] roll in conjunction with the same two rubber tipped composite rolls, a completely unforeseen enhancement of operational life and efficiency was noted. Whereas the previous assemblies gave satisfactory performance for no more than two to three weeks, the assembly containing a grooved solid nylon temple roll and the two composite (resilient tipped-burred) rolls has already given nine months service without noticeable wear. Further, damage to the woven cloths is minimal. In addition, applicant has discovered that even this increase in operational life and efficiency can be enhanced by substituting nylon for the rubber tips of the composite roller. An even further improvement was noted when the spirals of burrs per unit length of the composite roll to the grooves per unit length of the unburred nylon roll is kept within an experimentally determined ratio. This ratio has been found to vary from 1.3 to 2.0 spirals of burrs for each comparable unit length of the composite roll.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention, among others, to provide a heretofore unknown combination of burred type and friction type temple rolls in one assembly, said combination having superior properties compared to assemblies employing the friction type or the burred type of rolls alone.

A more specific object of this invention is to make available for the first time a novel temple roll assembly comprising at least one friction type helically grooved nylon roll with at least one, preferably two, composite type temple rolls.

An even more specific object is the finding that a greater increase in operational life can be gained by substituting nylon for the previously used rubber tips of the composite rolls in the above described assembly.

It is yet a further object of this invention to further minimize marking damage to cloth passed through a temple roll assembly by the selection of a critical burrs/grooves per unit length ratio in the novel temple assembly combining both friction type and composite type rolls.

A further object of this invention is the employment of an uncored solid nylon temple roll of simplified design and manufacture rather than the rigid cored rubber covered rolls of the prior art.

Further objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a study of this invention and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a three-roll temple bar assembly showing the direction of the cloth traveling over the temple rolls;

FIG. 2 is an isometric drawing of a left hand loom temple bar with a right-hand temple roll assembly comprising a typical prior art assembly of three entirely burred (or spiked) temple rolls;

FIG. 3 is an isometric drawing of an improved version of the left-hand loom temple bar with right hand rolls of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an isometric drawing of a left hand loom temple bar with a right-hand temple roll assembly of this invention comprising one completely grooved, solid nylon, friction roll used in conjunction with two composite temple rolls, each composite roll being substantially burred from one tip for about three-quarters of its length and being grooved for the remainder of its length to the opposite tip;

FIG. 5 is a detailed drawing of a composite type right-hand temple roll having a nylon tip;

FIG. 5A is a detailed view of the helically grooved tip of a composite temple roll; and

FIG. 6 is a detailed drawing of a completely helical grooved nylon surface right-hand temple roll.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail:

FIG. 1 shows a left-hand temple (20) which may be supported from the breast line of a loom and positioned adjacent to the weaving line to receive a selvage edge of a fabric (22) as it is drawn toward a beam for collecting the woven material.

The temple (20) comprises a temple supporting bar (23) attached to a base (24) having a trio of parallel roll receiving recesses (25) which receive the selvage edge of the fabric (22) as it is drawn from the loom. A vertically adjustable cover member is retained adjacent to the base (24) by a fastening bolts (28). The base (24) houses a trio of spaced apart spindles (29) that are mounted in bearings for rotatively supporting the temple rolls (30) in position. The vertically adjustable cover member in conjunction with the temple rolls defines a channel for the passage of the fabric (22) and presses the fabric against the rolls as the fabric (22) passes longitudinally through said channel. The temple rolls (30) are accommodated in the base roll recesses (25) and maintained in substantial parallelism during the operation as is clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

A prior art spiked (or burred) type of temple roll assembly is shown in FIG. 2. In this figure all three temple rolls (30) are of the spiked type and fit in a recess in the base (24) as previously described, mounted in a rotatable position through their spindles (29).

FIG. 3 shows a precursor of the broad inventive concept, namely the use of three composite temple rolls (31) comprising rolls rigid in construction and burred from one tip to about three-quarters of its length and of resilient construction and helically grooved for the remainder ofits length, including the opposite tip.

FIG. 4 illustrates the broad inventive concept of an assembly comprising two composite temple rolls (31) with one solid completely unburred helically grooved resilient roll (32). The three rolls are positioned in the base (24) and are rotatably supported and maintained in substantial parallelism through their spindles (29). The third adjoining helically grooved, friction type roll (32) is preferably fabricated of solid nylon. The housing, mounting, base, and operation of the inventive temple roll assembly are in all ways identical to that of the prior art shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The design (two composite and 1 friction rolls) and the use of nylon as the resilient material are the differences over the prior art shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. shows a part of the preferred embodiment of the inventive combination temple roll assembly in greater detail. In this drawing the composite temple roll comprises a spiked portion in which metal spikes are embedded in a hollowed out wooden core (33) but the helically grooved, solid nylon tip portion (34) is a hollowed out tube of solid nylon fitted onto the common wooden core extension of the spiked portion of the roll (32). The grooved nylon portion (34) is fabricated to have six threads per inch while the spiked portion (32) has eight spirals of spikes (or burrs) per inch. FIG. 5A shows the nylon tip (34) in blown up detail.

FIG. 6 illustrates in greater detail the friction type, helically grooved, solid nylon roller (32) employed in the assembly with the two composite rolls (31). This roll comprises a hollowed out, solid nylon cylinder having the helical grooves spaced at six threads per inch. The helix is of the appropriate hand so that when the rolls are rotated in the direction of travel of the cloth (as in FIG. 1) the effect of the helical grooving is to draw the cloth laterally, creating tension on the fabric and preventing it from elongating warpwise and contracting weftwise.

The type of helical grooving is not critical to the operation of this invention as long as the critical range of the number of grooves per unit length of the nylon friction roll to spirals of burrs per unit length of the composite roll is maintained. As indicated earlier this can vary between 1.3-2.0 spirals of burrs per each comparable unit length of grooves.

The number of rolls used in the assembly is not critical as long as at least two are employed and at least one is a composite roll and at least one other is a grooved type, friction roll of resilient structure.

The use of nylon is believed to be critical to the success of this invention. Attempts to substitute other resilient materials such as natural and butadiene based rubbers, polyesters and the polyurethanes for the completely nylon, grooved friction roll have led to complete failure of the temple roll unit as well as excessive damage to the woven cloth. To more dramatically point out the advantages and superiority of the inventive concept the following examples are submitted:

EXAMPLE 1 EVALUATION OF A PRIOR ART TEMPLE ROLL ASSEMBLY COMPRISING ENTIRELY SPIKED ROLLS In this run a temple roll assembly of the prior art comprising three entirely spiked rolls embedded in a wooden core was mounted on the side of a conventional loom. A standard lightweight fabric is woven and passed through the prior art assembly shown in FIG. 2. While operational life was satisfactory the high tension engendered by the reaction of the nonresilient rolls against each other caused unacceptedly severe marking.

EXAMPLEZ EVALUATION OF IMPROVED FORM OF THE PRIOR ART ASSEMBLY SI-IOWN IN FIG. 3

In this run the assembly illustrated in FIG. 3 is used. This assembly employs three composite type rolls rigid and burred from one tip to about three-quarters of its length and of resilient and grooved construction for the remaining onequarter of the roll, extending to the opposite tip. The helical grooving is such that eight grooves fit in each inch of unburred roll. The grooved portion is fabricated of hard, natural rubber affixed to one end of the burred roller. Initially, marking was somewhat reduced compared to EXAMPLE 1, but after about 7--l0 days the tips required replacement to avoid excessive marking.

Substituting a butadiene based synthetic type rubber for the natural rubber tip of the composite rolls gave no significant enhancement of operational life nor reduced marking.

EXAMPLE 3 EVALUATION OF A TEMPLE ROLL ASSEMBLY COMPRISING ONE GROOVED RESILIENT ROLL AND TWO PARTIALLY SPIKED AND PARTIALLY GROOVED ROLLS In this run the same loom, materials, and weaving techniques described in the preceding examples were used. However, in this temple roll assembly one of the three composite rolls was replaced with a helically grooved, rubber friction roll having eight grooves per inch or roller. Initial results were excellent, presumably due to lessened tension placed on the fabric. However, after about seven days the rubber tips wore out and had to be replaced. At the end of eighteen days the rubber roller had worn badly and slippage caused severe marking of the fabric and replacement of the grooved roller.

The grooved rubber, friction-type roller and the grooved tips of the composite roller were removed and synthetic rubber counterparts substituted for them. Again the tips of the composite roller lasted about a week and the friction roller slightly more than two weeks. The substitution of a polyester for the grooved friction roll and composite tips gave the same operational life as natural rubber.

EXAMPLE 4 EVALUATION OF A TEMPLE ROLL ASSEMBLY COMPRISING ONE GROOVED SOLID NYLON ROLLER AND TWO BURRED RUBBER TIPPED ROLLS In this run the assembly of EXAMPLE 3 is changed as follows: The grooved natural rubber friction roll is replaced with a grooved solid nylon friction roll having eight grooves per inch and the same helical configuration. Using the same loom, materials and techniques as in the previous example the operational life of the rolls was extended to eight months without substantial marking. However, the rubber tips of the two burred rolls wore rapidly and had to be replaced at one week to two week intervals to maintain minimal marking.

The replacement of the rubber tips of the burrs of the composite rolls with identically grooved nylon has increased the life of the tips up to at least six months with no apparent wear.

A further significant decrease in marking was obtained by reducing the grooves per inch of the nylon roll to six for each eight spirals per inch of the composite rolls. Subsequently it was found that improved results were obtained when the ratio of spirals of spikes per unit length of grooves was kept between 1.3-2.0: l.

The same results have been obtained with different types of nylon including Nylon 6, Nylon 6/6, Nylon 6/10 and Nylon 11, among others. As the preceding examples have indicated, the applicant has discovered that the mere use of a grooved resilient third roller in place of a burred roller or composite roll, is insufficient to give both low marking and long operational life.

The substitution of an identically helically grooved solid nylon roll for a solid rubber roller gave an unexpected, more than twenty fold increase in longevity while maintaining satisfactory level of marking.

The replacement of the helically grooved rubber tip with the identically grooved solid nylon tip gave a similar increase in the life of the tip.

The use of a preferred ratio of 1.3 to 2.0 spirals of burrs (or spikes) for each unit length of helical grooves of the unburred roller resulted in a further decrease in marking of the woven fabric.

The results obtained with this invention is therefore most unexpected. For example, it could not have been predicted that the substitution of one known resilient material (nylon) for another resilient material (natural rubber) or other thermoplastic materials (synthetic rubber, polyester or polyurethane) would result in a difference in kind rather than degree.

Further, that the choice of a proper spirals to grooves ratio would further reduce marking was wholly unexpected, particularly in view of the prior findings that the type of helical grooving is unimportant.

Clearly, many modifications and variations may be made in the construction arrangement and alignment of the temple rolls of the inventive assembly without departing from the underlying concept of the invention.

We claim:

l. A loom temple assembly for gripping the selvage edges of a fabric as it is being drawn from the fell line of a loom comprising at least two rotatable temple rolls, a temple housing including a base and sides. and vertically adjustable cover, said housing containing at least two recesses in its base to accommodate temple rolls, said temple rolls fitting within said recesses, each roll containing a spindle, at least two sets of receptacles spaced apart at the sides of the housing and adapted to receive the temple roll spindles and which rotatably support said temple roll spindles and maintain the temple rolls proximate to each other in substantial parallelism, at least one of the temple rolls comprising a solid, nylon, unburred member having helical grooving over its entire surface, said unburred member being positioned adjacent to at least one other composite temple roll, said composite roll being a rigid member spirally burred from one end for a distance equal to at least about two-thirds of its length, the remainder of the rolls length extending to the other end being a helically grooved nylon member, said temple rolls in conjunction with said vertically adjustable cover defining an adjustable channel for the passage of fabric being drawn from the loom, said cover being adapted to press the fabric against said temple rolls, thereby providing a means for imparting lateral tension on said fabric in said channel.

2. The loom temple assembly of claim 1 wherein the ratio of the spirals of burrs per unit length of the composite roll to the grooves per unit length of the unburred nylon roll varies between about 1.3 to 2.021. 

